WE wanted to celebrate the 10th Bolton & Bury Business Awards in style. And we certainly did that.

We rolled out the red carpet for our sponsors at the Macron Stadium and made sure our finalists and guests enjoyed the champagne at the start of a fantastic evening.

It is the second year we have held the awards in September and the date has proved popular with the business community who joined to make it the best date on the business calendar. Welcome speeches were made by our headline sponsors' representatives — Cllr Cliff Morris, leader of Bolton Council, and on behalf of the University of Bolton, the provost, Dr Zubair Hanslot, director of the newly opened UTC.

Cllr Morris spoke passionately about how Bolton is turning the corner after the tough times, with millions of pounds' worth of new development.

Dr Hanslot introduced his “friend” — a tiny robot called Eve which amused the audience with its Gangnam-style dance. But there was a serious message from Dr Hanlsot, that Bolton is leading in the world of technology and the UTC and university have an enormous amount to offer students.

Also impressing the audience were two young women from missile company MBDA. Jade Aspinall and Anna Schlautmann are in their early 20s but are qualified engineers. One owns her own home and the other has already been to six countries for her work. The message they wanted to impress upon their peers and employers was that apprenticeships are the way forward.

Main feature of the night was the awards presentations, which were led by Sky's Fraser Dainton.

The winners were thrilled to receive their trophies on stage from the category sponsors. Highlights included Alliance Learning chief executive Julie Robinson who had two trips to the stage — to pick up the SME award and a gong for businessperson of the year. She fought back tears as she said she accepted the awards on behalf of all employers and their apprentices.

One of the loudest cheers went up when young person/apprentice of the year Saeed Atcha went to collect his trophy. He runs Xplode magazine for young people.

Four Recruitment could not contain their delight at being named family business of the year. Bother and sisters Phil, Claire and Gemma Sofield started the firm in Bolton and now have offices in Manchester and Blackburn.

The We’re Backing Bolton/Bury Award went to chef Mike Harrison. He has been involved in the Bolton Food & Drink Festival since its inception.

The Holiday Inn, Bolton, picked up the Customer Excellence Award. Manager Dieter Koch said the trophy would be going in the hotel’s reception. Best company for apprenticeship development was Bromak and the start-up business trophy went to Handrail Creations.

Business of the year was Imerja. Managing director Ian Jackson was presented with the trophy by Bob Marnell of sponsors Stateside.